9 Terrifying Reasons The U.S. Needs A New Strategy To Fight Transnational Organized Crime

AP International criminal networks are expanding, forging dangerous new alliances, and diversifying illegal operations like never before, the Obama administration said yesterday as it unveiled a new campaign to disrupt organized crime globally.

In the past organized crime has traditionally been regionally based and hierarchically structured. Today, the report notes, "criminal networks are fluid, striking new alliances with other networks around the world and engaging in a wide range of illicit activities, including cybercrime and providing support for terrorism."

TOC penetration of nation-states is deepening, co-opting governance in some cases and weakening it in may others.

Criminal organizations are threatening U.S. economic interests and may cause major damage to the global financial system. There is also growing possibility the TOCs will gain influence over so-called "strategic markets" (i.e. gas, oil, aluminum, precious metals).

Terrorists and insurgents are increasingly turning to criminal activities and criminal networks for funding and logistics.

Well-established organized crime groups not previously involved in drug trafficking are now developing links to trafficking and distribution networks.

Human smuggling and trafficking are growing more violent and lucrative.

Criminal networks are stealing U.S. intellectual property and are increasingly involved in cybercrime.

The Obama administration outlines 56 priorities to combat the organized crime threat, including enhancing intelligence and information sharing, protecting the U.S. financial system, and strengthening U.S. capability to combat cyber threats.

The release of the new plan was accompanied by an executive order from President Barack Obama, declaring the TOC threat a national emergency. The order establishes sanctions to freeze the assets of TOCs and gives immigration agents more authority to turn away or detain suspected members. The White House said it also plans to work with Congress to develop legislative proposals to combat the threat.

The new national security initiative paints a terrifying picture of global threats posed by transnational criminal networks. We took a look at the plan to find out why the U.S. needed a new strategy to fight organized crime.

1/

International criminal organizations spend about $1 trillion annually to bribe public officials, according to a 2010 World Bank estimate.

A celebration for Mexico's PRI party, which has acknowledged ties to the cartels.
AP

TOCs threatening government stability and undermining free markets through their ties to political leaders, law enforcement, intelligence, and security agencies.

Criminal networks are infiltrating the political process through direct bribery, setting up shadow economies, disrupting the financial and security sectors through corruption and coercion, and positioning themselves as alternate governance providers.

2/

In 2010, 29 of the 63 top drug trafficking organizations had links to terrorist organizations, according to Department of Justice data.

AP

The links between terrorist organizations and the drug trade are, for now, primarily opportunistic, according to the new national security strategy. But the relationships have dangerous implications, especially if criminal networks start facilitating the transfer of materials for weapons of mass destruction to militants.

Human smuggling from Latin America to the U.S. generated about $6.6 billion in illicit profits in 2010, according to the United Nations.

Migrants travel by train through Mexico to the U.S.
AP

The vast majority of people who enter the U.S. illegally are moved through international human smuggling networks linked to other transnational crimes, including drug trafficking and government corruption.

In addition to economic migrants, these networks smuggle criminals, fugitives, terrorists, and victims of human trafficking, another lucrative criminal trade.

4/

Illicit trade accounts for between 10% and 20% of the global arms market, according to the UN.

Police officers seize smuggled weapons in the Philippines.
AP

Obama's new national security strategy notes that TOCs now play an important role in international weapons smuggling, and may be providing arms to insurgents and terrorist networks.

In the last year alone, U.S. federal law enforcement agencies have intercepted "large numbers" of weapons being smuggled to Mexico, China, Russia, Somalia, Yemen, Turkmenistan, and the Philippines, according to the NSC report.

5/

The annual value of U.S. intellectual property theft seizures doubled between 2003 and 2010.

A DVD shop in China.
Harold Groven via Flikr

The annual value of customs seizures related to intellectual property right violations rose from $94 million to $188 million between fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 2010, according to U.S. customs and mail data. Sixty-six percent of the products seized originated in China.

Intellectual property crimes range from pirated music, movies, software and video games to brand-name imitations to stolen proprietary designs of high-tech devices and manufacturing processes, according to the NSC report.

6/

In 2010, the U.S. Secret Service arrested 1,217 suspects for cybercrime violations with a fraud loss of $507 million.

AP

Virtually all of the TOCs are connected through and enabled by information technology systems, and many use cyber technologies to perpetuate sophisticated frauds, according to the new strategy. As a result, the TOCs pose an major threat to global financial systems, including banking, stock markets, e-currency and credit card services.

The U.S. Secret Service's cyber crime division estimates that anonymous online financial crimes lead to billions of dollars in losses to America's financial infrastructure. Some estimates indicate that Central European cybercrime networks alone may have defrauded U.S. citizens and entities of about $1 billion in a single year.

7/

Transnational crime and violence costs up to 8% of GDP of some Central American states, according to the World Bank.

Central America is now one of the world's deadliest regions, with an average homicide rate of 33 per 100,000 inhabitants.

8/

North Korean government likely has ties with crime networks that produce counterfeit U.S. currency.

The relationship between North Korea and TOCs underscores the dangerous links between rogue states and organized crime.

The new national security strategy emphasizes the need for the U.S. to increase its understanding of the TOC threats in Asia and the Pacific, particularly as drug trafficking organizations and criminal networks expand their activities in the region.

9/

Al Qaeda affiliates are expanding ties with the growing drug trade in West Africa.

Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau.
AP

The TOC national security strategy expresses a growing concern over links between Al Qaeda's North African affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, with the drug trade, as West Africa becomes a major transit hub for illegal drug shipments to Europe.

The NSC report notes that the drug trade is fueling insecurity in already unstable states in the region. Guinea-Bissau, for example, is now on the verge of becoming a narco-state, and the re-appointment of drug kingpin Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto as the country's Naval Chief of Staff is likely to further entrench the drug cartels operating in West Africa.